Qadaffi Vows 'No Negotiations'

Qadaffi Vows 'No Negotiations'

Libyan strongman Muammar Qadaffi has vowed not to negotiate with rebel leaders 'from now until Judgement Day!'; rebuffs France.

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Gabe Kahn., 22/07/11 09:50

Muamarr Qadaffi

Wikimedia Commons

Libyan strongman Muammar Qadaffi vowed this week he will never negotiate with the rebels, the Telegraph reports.

Qadaffi's latest vow comes after France suggested a possible way out of Libya's civil war would for Qadaffi to remain in Libya if he steps down, a stark depature from the US position that 'Qadaffi must go.'

With the Nato-led air campaign against Qaddafi's forces entering its fifth month and the fighting grinding into a stalemate, France is looking for exit strategies.

France has been in conducting separate talks with both the rebels and Qadaffi's government in the hopes of negotiating a solution, but Qadaffi on Friday ruled out any negotiations with rebels on the future of the North African nation.

Qaddafi insists he will neither step down nor flee the country he has ruled for nearly 41 years.

"I will not speak to them," Qadaffi said at a rally in Sirte. "There will not be any talks between me and them until Judgment Day!"

Earlier Qadaffi, who has been hard at work fortifying the region around Tripoli, urged families and tribal leaders from Misrata to fight to take back Libya's third-largest city from rebels who have pushed his troops away after more than four months of bitter fighting.

Libyan television showed footage of Qaddafi meeting at a conference centre in Tripoli with dozens of notables from Misrata and residents of the capital with relatives in the town, chastising them for their inaction.

"It's impossible to leave Misurata like this ... You must go to Misurata, enter it,"Qadaffi said.

"Where are the families we know and respect?

A force of rebels made up mostly of civilians from Misrata has pushed his better-equipped troops to a line around 36 kilometers west of the city while rebels in the mountain region south of Tripoli are within 50 kilometers of the capital.